Which to use
“Scan” is a noun and “scans” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,044
- “Scan” frequency rank
- #37,182
- “scans” frequency rank
- 57226
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scan | scans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kopie beziehungsweise das Abbild einer Vorlage, die mit Hilfe eines Scanners erstellt wurde | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scan |
Letter map: Scan vs scans
Shared letters muted; letters that set Scan and scans apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Part-of-speech tell for Scan / scans
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Scan is anoun and scansaverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Scan” sits inside “scans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Scan is recorded at frequency rank #20,044, classified as anoun, pronounced [skɛn]. scans is at rank #37,182, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 57226, this pair ranks #909,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Scan vs scans
Shared letters: acns. Private to "Scan": -. Private to "scans": -.
"Scan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "scans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Scan" for "scans" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Scan" vs "scans" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Scan" and "scans".
- Full dictionary entry for "Scan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #909,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scan" and "scans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs scans". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #909,610 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.